SMH earns BCBS patient centered designation

MANISTIQUE – Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has named 3,770 physicians and 1,243 physician practices across the state to its patient-centered “medical home” program.

The sole local practice earning the designation includes the Alan Ott Rural Health Clinic at Schoolcraft Memorial Hospital.

BCBSM designated the clinic as PCMH, meaning its residents have access to more personalized, teamoriented care through a variety of services such as:

•Personalized goals and needssetting

•24-hour access to a clinical decision-maker

•Coordinated specialist and other care, such as nutrition counseling, home care or links to community services.

•Teaching patients how to manage conditions such as asthma and diabetes.

With the program now in its fifth year, the number of physicians earning PCMH designations from BCBSM has tripled since first launch of the program in 2009, when only 1,200 physicians were designated.

Recently, BCBSM announced savings of an estimated $155 million over the first three years of its Patient-Centered Medical Home program. This is based on calculations made from an analysis published recently in an edition of the Health Services Research Journal.